Mississippi Lawyer Blog

I played college baseball at West Virginia State University. I worked out and since I was young, my metabolism burned off all the late night junk food I consumed. I was 6'2" and 198 pounds of "twisted steel and sex appeal". Life was good. Then I moved to Mississippi for law school. I became sedentary. I was introduced to fried pickles, fried cheese (my God, they can fry cheese?!?!), fried everything. And desserts. After three (3) years of this lifestyle, I ballooned up to 230 pounds.

My story was apparently very common for a lot of Mississippians as we were named once again the Fattest State in the United States. You don't have to spend too much time wondering about how this has happened. Simply look at all the signs proclaiming "ALL YOU CAN EAT" around the Jackson, Mississippi area. This is not a challenge people. You don't have to really "eat all you can eat". What's next? Will restaurants install vomitoriums?

Obesity is a serious health issue. According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, obese people are more prone to suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, and certain types of cancers. How does this affect you if you are not even obese? Health care costs related to obesity was $117 billion in 2000! Half of this $117 billion was paid by taxpayers to those on public health insurance such as Medicare or Medicaid. So our money is being used to underwrite obesity health care. Private insurance companies must raise also raise premiums to pay for obesity health care costs.

But is eating junk food really bad for you? A few years back, actor Morgan Spurlock (a West Virginia native by the way like yours truly) did a film called "Super Size Me". He ate at McDonald's for 30 days breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He was required to "super size" his meal if he was asked to do so by a McDonald's employee. At the end of 30 days, Spurlock gained 24½ lbs., a 13% body mass increase, a cholesterol level of 230, and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation in his liver.

People have scoffed at the idea that we need laws to regulate junk food and denounced lawsuits aimed at doing the same thing. People cry that "hey, this is America and I can eat whatever I want!". Yes, this is true. However, if I help pay your medical costs I should have a say in what goes into your belly pal.

Continue reading "Super Size Us! Mississippi is Fat, which is not Phat. Do we need to sue?" »

Your graduating senior may still be your baby, but in the eyes of the law he or she is an ADULT!

That means you can no longer make important medical or financial decisions for your child without their permission. But your job of being a PARENT doesn't stop just because your child turns 18. If there's a medical emergency or your child asks for financial help, you NEED the ability to cut through the legal red tape and get involved.

FACT: Doctors, hospitals or financial institutions (i.e. college business offices, student loan processing agents, banks, etc) will NOT bend the rules on this! It's against privacy laws. You must have 3 KEY DOCUMENTS in place to make important medical or financial decisions on your child's behalf. Even something as simple as a status update would be refused!

It's easier to see this need in case of medical emergencies, but financial decisions are as equally concerning. Millions of college students fall prey to the "predatory" lenders on campus, all promising money through student credit cards and student loans. You need to be legally able to assist and safeguard the financial wellbeing of your new adult.

You need to ensure you do not fall prey these lenders yourself through cosigning for credit cards, student loans, etc. As a Mississippi bankruptcy attorney, I often I see young adults who have run up enormous debt during college and are now facing lawsuits and garnishments. I also see parents and grandparents are also facing the same due to cosigning for their childrens loans. Student loans cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.

I call these 3 key documents the Parent Child Protection Kit, as they will give you the legal permission you need to HELP your child! Seeking the counsel of an attorney is always recommended, however these forms are all available on the internet, free of charge, and do not require an attorney.
• Advance Health Care Directive
• Financial Power of Attorney
• HIPPA Medical Release Form

Here's wishing your new adult a hearty congratulations on their big graduation day and hoping that, through your guidance, they will never need my services!!

On February 11, 2011, I wrote a blog about how Medicare fraud was one of the top priorities of the federal government. On February 18, 2011, the feds announced a nationwide Medicare fraud crackdown resulting in hundreds of arrests and $225 million in fraud. Here is the story.

A Medicare fraud investigation has led to the arrest of 111 medical professionals and uncovered more than $225 million in bogus bills and claims. The investigation was brought to light on Thursday after the Medicare Strike Force announced the indictments on Thursday.

The Medicare Task Force is made up of more than 700 law enforcement agents from the FBI, U.S. Health and Human Services Office, and various state and local agencies throughout the country. Since their start in 2007, the task force has charged nearly 1,000 people with damages worth more than $2.3 billion.

The defendants in Thursday's indictments are facing charges ranging from money laundering and identity theft to conspiracy. United States Attorney General Eric Holder said on Thursday that the operation has been a success:

"Through this operation, we have identified and shut down a variety of large-scale fraud offenses. We have safeguarded precious taxpayer dollars."

"And we have helped to protect our nation's most essential health care programs--Medicare and Medicaid--which provide critical assistance to the most vulnerable among us: seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income Americans."

Continue reading "Prediction Accomplished: Huge Nationwide Medicare Fraud Bust. Is Mississippi next?" »

Prosecuting health care fraud is a top priority for the federal government and it should be. Fraud and abuse of taxpayers money cannot be toloerated. News stories abound about federal government fraud enforcement activities against hospitals, clinical laboratories, durable medical equipment suppliers, hospices, and home health agencies. Based on recent legislation to enhance enforcement capabilities, there is reason to expect even more government enforcement activity in the future. While federal fraud investigations and enforcement actions against individual physicians have been isolated thus far, physicians and their practices are not immune to such government actions. Therefore, physicians and others involved in providing patient care need to know how to comply with the federal laws to guard against potential liability in fraud enforcement actions.

However, there are numerous cases which the government calls "fraud" which simply are mistakes. We recently defended a man charged with health care fraud in federal court in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The government alleged that he had been improperly billing for 4 years and charged him criminally. However, the proof at trial showed that Medicare was aware of our client's billing problems very early on but continued to allow him to submit improper bills. Instead of picking up the phone and simply advising our client of his errors, they continued to allow him to bill and be paid over $16 million in taxpayer funds! Our theory was that the Government simply wanted to build their case against our clients by allowing him to continue to bill.

Medicare, through its private insurance company "contractors, has a duty to educate providers. Medicare regulations are complex and change monthly. Medicare has set up "call in centers" which allow providers to call and ask questions concering billing, coverage, etc. However, if you use these "call in centers" take their answers with a grain of salt. A GAO study (Government Accounting Office) showed that out of 300 calls made to the "call in centers" only 4 percent were answered correctly! So what if you are a provider who calls in, gets incorrect answers, and then submits a bill to Medicare based on this information which proves to be wrong? You will have a difficult time proving the communication with the "call in center" unless you document the conversation in writing.

Continue reading "Health Care Fraud and Abuse in Mississippi" »

Medical errors cause so many injuries each year. The number of people injured each year due to medical malpractice and hospital errors is approximately 1.3 million. This is more people injured than in almost any other type of accident. The number of people who die from medical malpractice is higher than those dying from cancer. The Insurance Industry and other big companies have been using the medical malpractice scare as a way to push what they call "tort reform." How many times have you heard the phrase, "all the doctors are leaving." Well, if all the doctors are leaving everywhere, where are they going, to Mars? The number of doctors has been increasing each year by about 2%. Doctors are leaving rural areas but not because of lawsuits. The doctors do not want to live in rural errors for many of the same reasons people are leaving rural areas. The flight away form rural areas in this country has been taking place for the last century and it is going to continue according to government studies.

We have all been bombarded with the ads and literature designed to make us believe doctors are boarding a space shuttle to Mars. I have a family full of medical professionals and they don't think twice about medical malpractice. They treat their patients with kindness and all the skill they possess. The statistics show that over 50% of the medical errors are caused by 5% of the medical people who continue to make mistakes and are not adequately trained or disciplined. There are around 350 million people in the U.S. There are around 1.3 million medical errors. Nation wide out of the 1.3 people injured only about 85,000 file a lawsuit. I have to confess that my math skill are not as good as they once were. What is the percentage if 85,000 out of 1.3 million file a lawsuit? Is that somewhere around 8%? Let me ask you this question? If your neighbor kept backing his car into your car and causing substantial damage, would you let him do it 8 times before you took action? Or would you expect him to fix it the first time he did it? If you bought a house and the roof fell in because it was not built according to Southern Building Codes, would you say, "well, okay, I will let it fall in 7 more times before I do anything."

I work as an attorney helping people who get seriously injured, defrauded, or charged with crimes. This is my career, passion, and life. I do not make any apologies. I don't cause the injury or pain people have or feel, I try to help them deal with it in the legal system. The legal system can only offer money damages. That is it. If the legal system could repair the injury, I don't know a single client who wouldn't rather have a new body, limb, or be without pain than have money. The law profession is not much different then medicine. Doctors take patients as they find them. With injuries, pain and disability. Lawyers take clients as they find them, with injuries, pain and legal problems. Neither profession creates the problems. Each profession "practices" to solve the client/patients problems. Both make their living and get paid for helping people. Lawyers are attacked each year by the Insurance Industry for getting paid helping people. The last time I looked everyone in life gets paid for what they do, even preachers.

Medical negligence and mistakes are a bad thing. People go to their medical provider for help. They don't expect more injuries. There are so many instances where a person went into a Hospital and the medical professional operated on the wrong body area! Think about that for a minute. Can you imagine any way that should be excusable? The famous actor James Woods recently filed a lawsuit over his brother's death at a hospital. The Hospital eventually apologized for their mistake and agreed to pay damages to the children of his brother. These children are now without their dad and provider. In another case that made the news a hospital paid for causing a young boy to lose his leg and suffer mental developmental delays due to their errors. And in Texas a woman experienced problems for ten years after a hysterectomy. Finally, she learned that the doctor had left a sponge in her body. Of course, rather than admit the error and help her, the doctor is fighting it "tooth and nail." I am sorry that people make mistakes. A serious mistake by a doctor is likely to cause serious injuries. That is why being careful, well trained, and monitored is so important. I like and appreciate my doctors. I respect the medical profession. But, if any person, including a doctor, makes a error that causes another person an injury, they must be responsible just like everyone else.

Merrida Coxwell practices law in through Mississippi. He is licensed in every Court in Mississippi, in D.C. and West Virginia. Coxwell & Associates is located in Jackson, Hinds County, but the attorneys regularly work in Madison and Rankin Counties. If you have a legal problem call for a free consultation. Put experience to work for you. The office number is 601-948-1600.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are not filed very often. A 2006 study at Harvard established that only 1 in 8 people who are injured by medical malpractice file a lawsuit. This same study concluded that 97% of the cases filed had merit. That means there was a real and genuine reason for filing the case. Medical malpractice cases are not flooding the legal system. There are not that many medical malpractice cases filed yet the insurance industry continuously blames injured people for problems in the medical or health care industry.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the Congressional Budget Office and Government Accountability have determined that the cost spent defending claims and compensating people injured by medical negligence only amounts to 0.3% of all health care costs. The Insurance Industry has repeatedly exaggerated and lied to the public about medical liability cases and claims. One of the constant claims being made is that doctors "are fleeing." If doctors are fleeing, where are they going? The numbers of doctors in this country is increasing faster than the population growth. If rural areas are losing doctors, it is because doctors do not want to live in rural areas. Studies show that nationwide populations are moving to the cities. The number of doctors has increased in every state in the Country.

The Insurance Industry also claims that lawsuits drive up insurance costs. However scientific studies have proven that there is no relationship between doctor's insurance premiums and claims. Insurance companies have raised doctor's premiums not because of malpractice claims but so they can make more money. The Insurance Industry has admitted that caps on damage claims will not cause doctor's insurance premiums to go down. If you are interested in additional information on this matter you can read more at www.justice.org/clips/Five Myths About Medical Nefligence.pdf.

Coxwell & Associates is a firm representing people who are seriously injured and who have been charged with criminal offenses. Attorneys in the firm are experienced in trial and take a personal interest in their clients' cases. Call for a free consultation. Work: 601-948-1600.

Approximately seven (7) people have been charged with Medicare Fraud by the United States Government in an Indictment filed in United States District Court in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Indictment filed by the U.S. Government is only one side of the legal story. The men charged have were not given the opportunity to present any evidence to the Federal Grand Jury. According to the Indictment the individuals were operating clinics that provided physical medical services to Medicare patients. There is no indication from the article or Indictment how much money the men are accused of improperly billing or charging Medicare.

Our Coxwell & Associates Blog has posted an article before on white collar crime. The crime charged in this Indictment is exactly what we were describing when we wrote about white collar offenses. The Obama Administration has made medical fraud against the United States Government a high priority of the Administration. According to a recent report, Mississippi leads the nation in Hospice fraud. We may see significant federal resources devoted to medical fraud cases in the future. At Coxwell & Associates we have represent doctors and other medical providers in these types of cases. The billing codes in the medical industry can be extremely confusing and complex. It is easy to understand how mistakes could be made. In many instances the billing definitions can also be vague.

We have also had a post on this Blog before on whistle Blower Lawsuits. A Whistle Blower lawsuit is when someone with insider information of wrong-doing or fraud against the government files a special lawsuit to recover the money for the government. The Federal Government is given the right to join in the case and if it is successful and money recovered, the person who brought the lawsuit can be award a percentage of the money recovered. The national average of the money awarded is about 16%. This could have been a whistle blower lawsuit if the men have in fact been doing anything improper or illegal.

In the case the men charged are presumed innocent and we need to afford them that right. Billing is complicated in the medical field. Mistakes can be made easily. The case will go through the system like every other case. At Coxwell & Associates we represent individuals and companies charged with white collar offenses. Every person is entitled to a lawyer who zealously defends them, the same as every one should be entitled to excellent medical care. It make no difference what the charge is or who the person is that gets charged, at Coxwell & Associates if we take the case we will do nothing less than our best.

Coxwell & Associates is a law firm focusing on serious accident and injury cases, criminal cases and financial fraud. The attorneys are experienced and stay current in legal issues. If you have a legal problem call for a free consultation at 601-948-1600.

The is a good Editorial in the Asheville, N.C. Citizen-Times about Public Option health insurance. The editorial is one I am beginning to see more and more in newspapers. People who really consider this issue and stop listening to the lies and fear being whipped up and promulgated by the insurance industry have universally come to the same opinion: A public option insurance program is the only way this country is going to get health care under control. There is a political party that keeps claiming that we need more tort reform. This is a unmitigated lie, plain and simple. The truth is, and this is born out by the facts and statistics, that medical errors account for thousands of deaths a year. You can Google this yourself and read that medical errors lead to more death than some major diseases and perhaps even car wrecks. And the amount of the health care budget that goes to paying people who are seriously injured due to a major medical mistake is only around 2% of the overall budget. Think about that. Let's say the words together: Lawsuits, those evil things that help people who are injured recover, account for only 2% of the overall health care budget. So, where is the other 98%? I think if you look into the issue you will see that it goes to overhead for the insurance industry and profit.

I read a comment in the paper the other day by a person who was saying that health care should be left alone. That it should be left to the insurance industry and if you could not buy it you don't get it. I totally disagree with his comments. If health care was reasonably priced I might agree with him. If we took the insurance industry out of health care, and took the profit mongers out of health care, I think it would be priced so that everyone could afford it. The people that complain about health care are often the people on medicare who do not even realize that medicare is a government health program. One elderly lady said the other day that she wanted to "get the government out of her medicare insurance." Sadly, she does not even understand that her program is a government insurance program. And if we want the medicare program to work we need as a country to get more bargaining power with prescription drug costs. I believe that 90% of the problem with health care costs stem from a profit motive that is involved in health care. I want everyone to understand that I am a firm believer in allowing people to make a profit and the free enterprise system, but I am believe there are areas that must be directed by a greater public good, just like democracy. When I hear people complaining about big government I shake my head in wonder at their lack of understanding. Our government has provided so much safety and public projects that have benefited the overall well being of the country. I shudder to think of these projects left to the control of large corporations and industries that have no concern for people and only care about making money and moving on to the next country. We already see examples of this now. Look at the number of American companies who have abandoned the American worker and abandoned America so they could move over to another country and make more profit. One day they will move on to yet another cheaper country, leaving each time without any concern for the people affected by the move.

In most instances private business is good. But there are instances when private business should not control the market. I think back now about Bush's effort to turn the retirement system over to private industry. Where would we be now if Wall Street had control of public funds when the banking system failed. Social Security may have some serious problems, but if our entire social security had been with Wall Street the country may be completely destroyed. If you get the chance look at the Editorial in the Citizen-Times. The industry industry can make all these promises to us to try and divert our attention away from a public option. They promised us better health insurance when they HMO's, but all we got was lesser coverage and they made more money. Private insurance companies for profit will never provide us as a nation affordable coverage. That is a fact.

Charles R. "Chuck" Mullins is a partner at Coxwell & Associates. He has handled numerous accident cases over the years involving automobiles and trucks. The current issue of Men's Health magazine contained a study of "the most accident prone cities in America". Jackson, Mississippi received an "F" in this category and had the highest number of per capita automobile accidents resulting in death in the nation and was second in deaths due to fire. Overall, Jackson was ranked 94 out of 100 cities. Sounds like the citizens of Jackson need to be more careful.

If you or your loved one is hurt in an accident through no fault of your own, please call Chuck Mullins at Coxwell & Associates.

According to a report in The Jackson Free Press domestic abuse is a condition that can be considered a pre-existing condition and insurance companies can refuse to pay medical bills arising from treatment after domestic abuse. Absurd is the only word I have to say. I hope all of you reading this Blog or the Jackson Free Press article think hard about this issue. I have written before on the health care debate and publically stated that I am for a public option health policy. I went to far as to say I would like to see the insurance industry and their profit mongering out of health care. I love the American free enterprise system. But, health is one of the single most important needs that we have in life. Health is everything, and in my opinion it should not he held in the hands of the insurance industry. Let the insurance industry insure our cars, houses, businesses, our boats, office building and all the other myriad other things they dream up to insure, but keep them out of health insurance. If we put the best minds in this country on this issue, we could have an affordable health care ststem for everyone. Health care for the insurance industries' profit is simply not acceptable.

I am going to write about insurance companies and health care. This is a topic in the news daily. First, think for a minute about all the types of insurance available. Auto insurance, health, disability, house, wind, water, umbrella, uninsured or under insured, business interruption policies, renter's policies, credit life, credit health, credit disability, and the list could go on and on and on. If you have extra time Google any question you have about insurance companies. In the past I was interested in how rich and powerful insurance companies had become. I Googled their wealth, the money they spend lobbying our Federal and State Governments, who owns the companies (most are now owned if I recall correctly by foreign investors), and what financial interests they have in our economy and other businesses. The answers were a little frightening. The big insurance companies are mostly foreign owned, they control enormous amounts of wealth, spend millions influencing governments, and they are invested in most major industries. If you doubt this Google these issues yourself. If you are not interested in these things, I would like you think for a minute about health care. Why do we place our health, which is the single most important thing in our life, in the hands of multi-national corporations and foreign interests so a profit can be made on us? Think about this for a minute. We are allowing a business to profit, and profit richly, on our health. And they do this by controlling our doctors and what we can do for our own health. In my mind there is something intrinsically wrong with allowing a corporation to control and profit based on our health.

I can hear the people screaming now " Oh my, Coxwell want big government to take over health care." Big government, big government, big government. Now, I said it. Let's get over the scare tactics and think about this with some d__n sense. We all need to be healthy to be a strong country. We are one of the richest nations in the world. Everyone should have some form of health care. We have the ability to provide health care for everyone. If you are one of those people who believe you should never be helped by government, then stop reading this article and go back to your self created fantasy world. Also, if you hate government, then don't use the National Interstate System. Don't drink the water or use the water for your faucet. Don't eat the food in the grocery store, because the government does what it can to see that the food is safe. There are so many things that government has done in this country to protect people that I would never trust to the huge corporations to do safely on their own without supervision. Just look at all the unsafe drugs over the past ten years that flooded the market due to the FDA being stripped of its regulatory power and dismantled during the Bush years. Oh, and before we leave this topic don't forget the National Immunization Programs that were organized by government to help eradicate diseases. Everyone benefited for this form of big government.

I am exhausted with all the anti-government rhetoric that became so popular in the early 1980's and continues today. Let me ask you this if you are an person who also complains about government. " Would you trust the multi-national corporations and corporations who control health care industries to protect you and care for your well-being." Can you seriously and honestly open your mind to the possibility that the corporations who make a profit don't care about you as an individual and if left without government supervision they would run over you like you were a bug.

There are issues that concern me about government health care but there are issues that concern me more about health care controlled by corporations who want to profit by controlling our health care. My father has Medicare. He is 81 years old and goes to the doctor frequently. I find that the program works good. Does it pay the doctors fairly or adequately? I really do not know. I am not an expert on health care. My sister is married to a doctor and she tells me some of the reimbursements are very little. When she explains them to me what she says makes sense. So, in my mind the answer seems to be pay the doctors better for the work they do and cut out the waste. I read an article this weekend about health care. It seems that the big costs go toward overhead, expenses, and profit of the insurance companies. It just seems like a no-brainer. Create a system that pays doctors for their long hours and hard work, but takes the control out of the hands of insurance companies. When I hear the insurance industry complaining about how little they make off health care, it makes me wonder if it is that bad why do they stay in the business?

I have staked out my position. I have some reservations about how the government health care will work. But I have no doubt about this issue: I do not want my access to health care controlled by the insurance industry and some person in a corporation sitting in an air conditioned room thinking of ways to save the company money by keeping me or my family from getting the care they need. The government needs a program trimmed of fraud and waste. It needs a program that is affordable and competes with the insurance companies. I have spent some time reading about the health care in other countries and what I have noticed is that people who have government sponsored health care are not clamoring or begging to have insurance companies control their health care. And with that I rest my case.

Merrida Coxwell is the managing partner of Coxwell & Associates, a law firm in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. Coxwell & Associated focuses on serious personal injuries, criminal defense and consumer fraud. For more information review the attorney profiles and practice areas.